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Meet the new bidder, same as the old bidder?

Who would have thought a contract involving trees would end up having so many branches of absurdity?

Last Thursday, about one month after yanking the existing tree trimming contract from a man accused of obtaining it through forgery, the city opened bids to award the contract to a new company. In the end, the low bidder ended up, essentially, being the same company – a company that can be traced back to that same man, Dan Hibbard. The company, AAA Treeworks, is but a small variation of the company that also had a tree contract removed by the Revere Housing Authority (RHA) two weeks ago due to an alleged forgery of contract documents.

Yes, believe it or not, Dan Hibbard has apparently found a way to bid on the contract he lost due to forging insurance and bonding documents, and he is also apparently in the lead for that contract.

AAA Treeworks – based out of a triple-decker in Linden Square – bid $18,300 for the contract, nearly $9,000 less than the next lowest bidder, Northern Tree Service of Palmer.

City officials were mystified by the turn of events.

Seemingly, no one could believe it. Even bidders at the bid opening were surprised.

Mayor Tom Ambrosino said that the city has not rejected AAA Treeworks as of yet, and that the city will only take action after consulting with state officials.

“I am sure we will confer with the [Inspector General’s] office before we take any action and we will follow their advice on how to proceed,” he said. “Under the circumstances, I would think they’d say we have sufficient grounds for rejecting this low-bidder.”

City Solicitor Paul Capizzi said that he has been looking into the matter since Thursday.

He said he didn’t think that there was any way the city would award the bid to AAA Treeworks, but he is consulting with the Attorney General before making such a determination.

“I would almost say let him sue us and take us to court and we’ll go before the judge and tell them all about what’s happening,” he said.

He also said he has been forwarding everything he finds to the FBI, the state Inspector General and the State Police for use in an apparent investigation.

AAA Treeworks was the same company name used in the RHA job. That RHA contract and the former City contract were both removed when it was discovered that Hibbard’s insurance documents and performance bond were forgeries.

A1 Climbers held the former City contract, while AAA Treeworks held the former RHA contract. Both could be traced back to Hibbard.

Now, the newest form of AAA Treeworks is a company incorporated in Nevada.

It is registered in the name of Scott Doucette, though Hibbard’s son, Dante, is a partner in the company. Though it is not certain, sources said that Doucette might be a long-time employee of Hibbard’s.

The company has a headquarters of 5 Oliver St. in Malden, which is just off of Linden Square facing Lynn Street. A visit to the property showed standard apartment mailboxes with unrelated names on them. However, under those regular mailboxes, a small black mailbox was propped up on a ledge and it bore the handwritten names of ‘AAA Tree Works’ and ‘Trident Avenue Development.’

Trident Avenue Development is a former, and perhaps current, owner of the property. Trident is owned by Dan Hibbard’s girlfriend, and based out of a home in Winthrop she owns – which is next door to the home where she and Hibbard reside.

The officers in the Nevada-based AAA Treeworks company were changed in mid-August, just after Dan Hibbard lost the City of Revere tree trimming contract.

The RHA contract was based out of 53 Trident Ave. in Winthrop, a property also owned and developed into condominiums by Hibbard’s girlfriend.

Revere officials said they would continue researching the matter before making a final decision on awarding the contract in the near future.

Dantmullen

Hibbard and his girlfriend Elinor Scali are making the mayor and his cronies look the fools they must be. Better to look foolish and incompetent than to actually be in on this scam, I guess.

judi

Hibbard and Scali are going to look good in stripes when serving time. This is just scratching the surface. Keep digging investigators, there’s more to find….and probably more crooks involved.

judi

I think a LOT of people from city hall are aware or in on it….kick-backs maybe??? The mayor certainly looked uncomfortable on TV last night.

Yellowpeer

Real leadership does not need to “continue researching” you stand tall and say what part of No don’t you understand……

Amy

I heard Tello was living with them when he was in need. I bet he gave them permission and got kick backs. Now that IRS is hee he is acting in his lie.. El Scalli is a nice woman and she has no reason to suffer from this. Leaver her out. She has children and her own life.
Her boyfriend was set up by people in a drug scam. God will shine through////

Ned Flanders

Mortgage Fraud+ Eleanor Scalli=Identity Theft

Ned Flanders

I hope the investigators look into Eleanor’s mortgage scams. She is responsible for most of the foreclosures in East Boston as well as Winthrop.

A concerned citizen!

Thats funn how Hibbard got tree contracts while he collects SSI? I bet no one has looked in to that yet! Once a scammer always a scammer. He recntly was released from prison and I am sure hes up to his old tricks!

flipper

Dante Hubbard owns ASAP tree care now

Ricksterms

2 BIG STORIES ON THIS IN 2 YEARS , A 2 YEAR INVESTIGATION THAT LEADS TO A 12 COUNT INDICTMENT AGAINST HIBBARD AND THE REVERE JOURNAL ONLY PUTS A SMALL TWEET? GEE COULD IT BE THAT SOMEONE KNOWS SOMEONE IN CITY HALL???

Linda

Eleanor is a liar & screws people over in the mortgage business. She probably had alot to do with this! She not innocent. Danny’s a bad person as well! They look like they belong together. Sad people really